Bria Vinaite wants you to have a better understanding of the ideas behind a Green New Deal before you vote in the midterm elections. The concept was coined by Franklin D Roosevelt and later popularized by Thomas Friedman in 2007 in order to put a stop to fossil fuel subsidies, tax carbon dioxide emissions, and create lasting incentives for wind and solar energy. The idea was also taken by Barack Obama in 2009 and was later abandoned in 2010 when austerity politics came into place.
However, the concept which was long forgotten is now coming back into place and this is seen amongst the ranks of Democratic insurgents running on left-leaning platforms in 2018 primaries across the country. This concept which was in existence for quite some time is not new but it might sound strange because it does not have a particular definition. In general, the Green New Deal is a policy is tagged as an initiative from environmental activists and politicians who want to stop pretending climate change isn’t happening and start preparing for it.
For now, there isn’t just one Green New Deal yet, it is a platform position that some candidates are taking to indicate that they want the American government to dedicate the country to preparing for climate change as fully as Franklin Delano Roosevelt once did to reinvigorating the economy after the Great Depression. It could be a winning strategy.
Polls have shown that Americans tremendously support efforts to decrease climate pollution and increase renewable energy capacity, even if it comes with a cost. Sixty-one percent of Americans who voted for Obama in 2012 and then for Trump in 2016 supported requiring a minimum amount of renewable fuels even if it increased electricity prices.
